North Bergen ranked 52nd safest place in America by national security group

The Township of North Bergen was ranked the 52nd safest place in America by the National Council of Home Safety and Security earlier this month: ranking number 1 in Hudson County and cracking the top 10 in New Jersey. Sponsored content.

“Well, we’re really proud, it really does qualify the group work we do here in North Bergen. The men and women in this department work tirelessly to keep the streets safe, reduce crime and really improve the qualify of life here,” said Police Chief Robert Dowd.

“We started a program called the Township Alternative Policing Strategies, TAPS, we meet every single month in four geographic areas of town, where we have an open community policing meeting where we invite and encourage residents to come out and speak to us one-on-one.”

Dowd also boasted about the department’s Crime Prevention Center that utilizes digital mapping and other technology to ran a CompStat – a computerized, statistical analysis of crime.

On their website, the NCHSS described North Bergen as being located “right next to Manhattan with 62,928 people living within its borders” and is often a filming spot for New York City area shows such as Law and Order.

762 municipalities met the standards of the NCHSS study before 100 were selected for rankings.

The Washington D.C.-based organization is comprised of licensed alarm installers, contractors “and other relevant trade groups across the United States” looking to provide education on child and senior safety, as well as home safety and security.

North Bergen Commissioner of Public Safety Allen Pascual was complimentary of both Dowd’s leadership style and the new TAPS program.

“I have to say it’s a top to bottom kind of organization with the leadership of Chief Robert Dowd. When I came on as the Commissioner of Public Safety, he immediately brought some initiatives to me and telling me about the things they were doing,” began Pascual.

“Starting with the new North Bergen township policing strategy, which really focuses on the community and working with the community, and making sure that the community knows that the police department is their friends.”

State Senator (D-32)/North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco, who has been in local office since 1985 – back when the police department had just two squad vehicles and officers frequented the bus – attributed their current success to hiring from within.

“Number 1 is that we hire from within in the township, that’s very important to me. Therefore, demographically, we’re similar to the population. A high level of Latino population in the town, we have a high level in our police department,” stated Sacco.

“We have Arabic police officers, we have woman police officers, so we kind of mirror the way the town is structured demographically – and I think that’s very important.”

According to statistics provided by the township, the police department consists of 118 officers, 55 percent of whom are Hispanic, with an additional and 41 percent of the department’s superior officers also identifying as Hispanic.

Furthermore, the NBPD received an accreditation from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police back in November.

Hudson County View is an independent media outlet covering news and politics for Hudson County, NJ, and all of its municipalities. Owned and operated by John Heinis, an investigative reporter, Hudson County View focuses on covering elections, public policy, lawsuits, corruption and all other things related to government and politics in Hudson County.